DOVER, Del., May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chesapeake Utilities Corporation today announced that Calvert A. Morgan, Jr., Eugene H. Bayard and Thomas P. Hill, Jr., have been elected to Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's Board of Directors to serve as Class I directors with three-year terms, effective May 2, 2006. Mr. Morgan was first elected to the Board in 2000 and re-elected to the Board in 2003. Mr. Morgan serves as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and Compensation Committee. Messrs. Bayard and Hill were elected to their initial terms as directors. Mr. Bayard will serve as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and Mr. Hill will serve as a member of the Audit Committee. "We are very pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Bayard and Mr. Hill to our Board," commented John R. Schimkaitis, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Mr. Bayard brings many years of experience as an attorney and community leader to the Company's Board, and Mr. Hill's many years of financial experience in the utility field will prove advantageous as we continue to grow the Company," noted Mr. Schimkaitis.
Mr. Bayard has been an attorney and partner with the law firm of Wilson, Halbrook & Bayard in Georgetown, Delaware, since 1974. He serves in numerous business and community board capacities including Delaware Wild Lands, Inc., Delaware State Fair, Inc., Harrington Raceway, Inc., Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association, the Southern Delaware Advisory Board for the Delaware Community Foundation, O.A. Newton & Son Company and J.G. Townsend, Jr. & Company. Previously, he served on the boards of the Blood Bank of Delaware, Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, the Children's Bureau of Delaware, Delaware Music School, Anderson-Stokes, Inc. and Sussex Shores Water Company.
Mr. Hill retired in 2002 from Exelon Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Exelon Energy Delivery. Exelon Corporation is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, providing energy generation, power marketing and energy delivery. Prior to the PECO Energy and Unicom Corporation merger, out of which Exelon Corporation evolved, Mr. Hill was Vice President and Controller for PECO Energy, where he had been employed since 1970 in various senior financial and managerial positions. Mr. Hill is also a director of the Philadelphia Zoo, the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital and the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation also announced today the retirement of Robert F. Rider and Rudolph M. Peins, Jr., from the Board of Directors, each effective May 2, 2006, in accordance with the Company's retirement policy for directors. In addition to serving as a director of the Company, Mr. Rider served as Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Company for the past six years. Mr. Schimkaitis noted that "Messrs. Rider and Peins have been leaders throughout the years and have continuously shared their wisdom and expertise with the Company." Mr. Schimkaitis expressed the Company's deep gratitude and appreciation for the twenty-nine and thirteen years of loyal and distinguished service Messrs. Rider and Peins, respectively, provided to Chesapeake's Board.
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified utility company engaged in: natural gas distribution, transmission and marketing; propane distribution and marketing; advanced information services; and other related businesses. Information about Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and the Chesapeake family of businesses is available at http://www.chpk.com/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael P. McMasters, Senior Vice President and CFO
302.734.6799
